SOURCES  OF  INFIDELITY. 


-A- 


BACCALAUREATE  DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED  AT 


DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE, 


JUNE  25,  1876. 


BY  ASA  D.  SMITH, 

PRESIDENT. 


CONCORD,  N.  H.: 

PRINTED  BY  TIIE  REPUBLICAN  PRESS  ASSOCIATION. 

1876. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/sourcesofinfidelOOsmit 


DISCOURSE. 


ISAIAH  44 : 20. 

“He  feedeth  on  ashes:  a deceived  heart  hath  turned  him 

ASIDE,  THAT  HE  CANNOT  DELIVER  HIS  SOUL,  NOR  SAY,  Is  THERE 

NOT  A LIE  IN  MY  RIGHT  HAND  ? ” 

When  the  wise  man  says,  66  Better  is  the  end  of  a 
thing  than  the  beginning  thereof/’  he  by  no  means 
intends  to  speak  lightly  of  the  latter.  There  is  ever- 
more a special  interest  in  beginnings.  They  awaken 
curiosity ; as  when  some  broad  river,  like  the  Nile,  is 
traced  with  weariness  and  painfulness,  and  great  ex- 
pense of  treasure  and  peril  of  life,  to  its  far-off  source 
in  the  centre  of  a vast  continent.  Beginnings  are 
intrinsically  important.  They  are  causal  and  pro- 
phetic. They  are  seed-like.  There  is  a type  and  a 
law  in  them — a law  of  descent  and  of  propagation. 
Beginnings,  as  typfes,  shed  light  on  the  antitypes. 
We  learn,  as  we  study  them,  whence  came  the  Pac- 
tolian  sands,  or  the  death-bearing  malaria.  Ascer- 
tained, besides,  they  may  often  be  controlled  and 


4 


modified.  “ I have  read,”  says  one,  “ of  a hill  in  Eu- 
rope, where  a little  spring  bursts  forth ; and  if  its 
waters  run  down  the  slope  on  one  side,  they  mingle 
with  the  Rhine,  and  find  their  way  to  the  German 
Ocean.  If  they  leap  from  the  cliff  on  the  other  side, 
they  wander  till  they  blend  with  the  mighty  Danube, 
and,  after  passing  through  many  nations,  kindreds, 
and  tongues,  are  lost  in  the  Black  Sea,  a thousand 
leagues  from  the  other.  The  removal  of  a single 
spadeful  of  earth  determines  the  question,  to  which 
of  these  distant  embouchures  the  waters  of  that  little 
spring  are  destined.”  Especially  important  are  be- 
ginnings in  the  moral  and  spiritual  sphere.  They 
give  us  the  protoplasm,  so  to  speak,  which  forms  the 
basis  of  the  whole  subsequent  life.  It  is  not  strange 
that  one  of  the  most  popular  volumes  in  the  pub- 
lished works  of  one  of  the  most  eminent  divines  of 
the  last  half  century,  was  his  series  of  discourses  on 
“ First  Things.” 

The  view  thus  suggested  is  to  nothing  more  ap- 
plicable than  to  that  Protean  infidelity,  so  rife  in 
these  latter  days,  and  which,  in  some  of  its  more 
specious  forms,  is  one  of  the  chief  perils  of  the 
youthful  student.  To  understand  it  thoroughly,  and 
so  to  be  fully  armed  against  it,  you  must  know  its 
sources.  And  these  are  often  not  in  the  recent,  but 
far  back  in  the  past  history.  They  are  to  be  sought 
for  not  mainly  in  the  open  plain,  but  in  the  thick 


5 


jungles  of  the  soul,  in  its  shrouded  morasses,  or  on 
rugged  and  cloudy  heights  hard  to  be  reached.  Yet 
the  search  for  them  is,  for  reasons  already  hinted,  of 
vast  moment.  Latent  as  they  often  are,  and  unsus- 
pected— doing  their  deadly  work  subtly  and  in  the 
dark,  and  doing  it  the  more  effectively  because  so 
stealthily — it  is  half  the  battle  to  eclaircize  them.  The 
diagnosis  here  is  not  less  important  than  in  the  case 
of  physical  disease.  Of  the  poor  soul  “ feeding  on 
ashes,”  as  our  text  has  it,  it  is  just  as  true  as  of  the 
idolater  originally  referred  to,  “ a deceived  heart  hath 
turned  him  aside,  that  he  cannot  deliver  his  soul,  nor 
say,  Is  there  not  a lie  in  my  right  hand?”  In  the 
hope  of  exposing  some  of  these  self-deceptions,  and 
so  of  helping  to  break  the  cords,  delicate,  it  may  be, 
as  gossamer  threads,  yet  strong  as  bands  of  iron, 
wherewith  many  are  held  in  unconscious  bondage,  I 
propose  to  speak  to-day  of  some  of  the  chief  Sources 
of  Infidelity. 

I name  first,  early  associations . Though  we  hold 
not  with  Mill  ‘and  Mackintosh,  that  conscience  in  its 
fulness,  and  all  the  moral  intuitions  and  sentiments, 
are  the  mere  creatures  of  association,  yet  it  is  doubt- 
less one  of  the  most  far-reaching  and  potent  of  all 
the  laws  both  of  our  intellectual  and  moral  being. 
It  has  much  to  do  in  fashioning  and  coloring  the 
whole  web  of  life.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  as- 
sociations of  early  years.  The  mind  and  the  heart 


6 


send  forth  then  their  clinging  tendrils  in  every  direc- 
tion; and  the  fibres/ at  first  of  downy  softness,  at  the 
touch  of  the  passing  years  harden  into  steel.  We 
speak  but  truisms,  you  may  say ; but  they  are  tru- 
isms of  such  amazing  moment  that  we  can  hardly  be 
too  often  or  too  earnestly  reminded  of  them ; and 
they  have  a special  relevancy  to  our  present  theme. 
Who  has  not  felt  in  later  life  the  power  of  early  im- 
pressions, albeit  reason  and  conscience  have  disowned 
them,  and  he  has  known  surely  that  they  were  but  as 
the  phantoms  of.  a troublous  dream  ? I would  be 
glad  to  find  the  New  Englander  so  entirely  disen- 
thralled from  the  spells  of  his  boyhood  as  to  feel  not 
the  slightest  uneasiness  at  the  sight  of  the  new  moon 
over  his  left  shoulder — knowing  though  he  does  that 
the  whole  legend  pertaining  thereunto  is  as  truly  a 
myth  as  u the  man  in  the  moon.”  Preeminently 
enduring  and  potent  are  the  associations  of  home. 
They  were  meant  to  be  so.  God  intended  that  there 
the  heart  should  have  its  first  unfolding  and  the  mind 
its  first  direction ; that  there  should  be  the  primal 
fountain  of  sweet  waters  or  bitter — and  that  as  they 
are  the  one  or  the  other,  so  should  the  stream  of  life 
flow  on.  Happy  is  he  in  all  moral  relations,  and 
especially  in  relation  to  the  subject  in  hand,  the  abode 
of  whose  childhood  has  been  irradiated  by  the  light 
of  faith. 

What  moulding  power  has  a father’s  known  accept- 


ance  of  divine  truth,  and  his  daily  illustration  of  it. 
What  a greater  power  in  the  same  direction  is  a 
mother’s  devotion  and  a mother’s  saintly  life.  We 
all  remember  the  saying  of  John  Randolph : “ I 
should  have  been  a French  atheist  if  it  had  not  been 
for  one  recollection,  and  that  was  the  memory  of  the 
time  when  my  departed  mother  used  to  take  my 
little  hands  in  hers,  and  cause  me,  on  my  knees,  to 
say,  Our  Father,  who  art  in  Heaven.  ” There  has 
been  a strenuous  effort,  as  you  know,  to  secure  the 
opening  of  the  Centennial  Exhibition  on  the  Sabbath. 
At  a meeting  of  gentlemen,  I have  been  told,  who 
had  much  to  do  with  the  matter,  there  was  one  pres- 
ent who  came  with  the  determination  to  favor  the 
movement.  But  as  he  sat  awaiting  the  discussion, 
some  little  filament  of  association  drew  his  thoughts 
back  to  his  boyhood.  A thousand  Sabbath  memories 
thronged  about  him — of  the  mother  who  arrayed 
him  for  the  house  of  God,  of  the  walk  thither,  of  the 
Sabbath  hymn  and  prayer  in  church  and  at  home,  of 
forms  that  had  passed  from  the  old  paternal  dwelling 
to  the  better  land — and  his  heart  melted  within  him. 
When  called  on  to  speak,  he  frankly  said  : “ I came 
intending  to  vote  for  the  proposed  measure,  but  a 
change  has  passed  over  me,  and  I shall  take  my  stand 
with  those  who  oppose  it.”  I have  seen  a student, 
born  and  bred  in  a place  where  ratidnalistic  influ- 
ences prevailed,  preserved  from  the  contagion,  and 


8 


held  fast  to  the  truth,  almost  solely  by  a pious  moth- 
er’s influence.  Ah  ! these  Christian  mothers — what  a 
ministry  of  blessing  is  theirs ! As  I have  sat  in  our 
College  Chapel,  and  looked  on  the  great  body  of 
young  men  that  gather  there — ardent,  impressible, 
inexperienced,  comparatively — and  have  recalled  the 
temptations  that  beset  them ; for  the  surest  and  dear- 
est safeguard,  next  to  the  arm  divine,  I have  turned 
to  the  spells  and  the  memories  of  home.  And  I have 
said  in  my  heart,  thankfully  and  hopefully,  as  I have 
thought  of  the  mothers  who  were  praying  for  them, 
“ Their  angels — those  guardian  angels  of  the  fire- 
side— do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.” 

But  what  now  if  all  this  power  for  good, — of  mul- 
tiform associations  and  precious  memories, — become  a 
power  for  evil  ? What  if  there  be  no  family  altar — 
no  voice  of  prayer  from  him  who  should  be  the  priest 
of  his  household — no  lessons  of  God  and  his  word 
from  the  mother’s  lips  ? What  if  the  Bible  be  not 
merely  neglected,  but  spoken  of  slightly  and  doubt- 
fully— as  if  it  were  of  questionable  authority,  or  but 
partially  inspired  ? What  if  flings  and  sneers  at  the 
leading  truths  of  Christianity,  or  at  the  church  of 
God,  or  at  the  members  thereof,  are  heard  at  the  fam- 
ily board  ? The  faintest  whisper  of  this  sort  shall  be 
echoed,  with  ever  increasing  volume,  all  along  life’s 
pathway.  It  may  prove  the  soul’s  death-knell.  “It 

/ 


9 


is  hard,  indeed,”  wrote  one  of  our  alumni  to  me  lately, 
of  his  missionary  labors  among  the  natives  of  Asia, 
“ to  free  them  entirely  from  the  old  superstitions,  to 
quite  uproot  the  faith  planted  and  nourished  by  the 
mother’s  hand,  who,  morning  and  evening,  led  the 
child  to  bow  before  the  idol  and  offer  a prayer.”  And 
the  law  of  association  works  in  America  just  as  it 
works  in  India.  Nay,  the  influence  of  young  com- 
panions may  be  hardly  less  potent.  A beardless  in- 
fidel, self-confiderft,  loquacious,  magnetic,  has  been 
known  to  poison  the  minds  of  half  his  juvenile  com- 
panions. And  what  if  the  associations  of  the  school 
or  the  college  are  in  the  same  direction  ? What  if  in 
the  circle  of  learned  and  revered  teachers  scepti- 
cism is  known  to  exist,  even  if  it  be  not  taught — 
much  more,  if  it  be  stealthily  though  only  occasion- 
ally insinuated  ? From  influences  like  these,  received 
unconsciously — denied  it  may  be,  and  the  purest  au- 
tonomy vainly  asserted — how  often  have  we  occasion 
to  say,  “ He  feedeth  on  ashes  : a deceived  heart  hath 
turned  him  aside,  that  he  cannot  deliver  his  soul,  nor 
say,  Is  there  not  a lie  in  my  right  hand  ?” 

As  the  second  source  of  infidelity,  I mention,  a 
needless  stumbling  at  mystery.  There  is  in  fallen  man 
everywhere,  the  old  Edenic  desire  to  “be  as  gods, 
knowing  good  and  evil.”  In  every  age,  “vain  man 
would  be  wise,  though  man  be  born  like  a wild  ass’s 
colt.”  In  respect  to  divine  things  especially,  many 


10 


are  impatient  of  inevitable  limitations.  They  are 
unwilling  to  receive  what  they  cannot  understand. 
They  are  a slow  of  heart  to  believe  f they  call  for 
explanation,  for  demonstration,  for  the  last  conceiva- 
ble analysis.  Instead  of  the  great  intuitions,  primal, 
ineradicable,  more  real  than  gold  or  granite,  they 
would  have  the  forms  of  technical  logic,  or  the  reve- 
lations of  the  crucible  and  the  microscope.  They  call, 
indeed,  in  theology  for  what  they  find  nowhere  else. 
Mystery,  it  should  be  remembered,  is  involved  in  the 
very  idea  of  the  finite.  The  very  term  suggests  a 
limit,  as  well  of  knowledge  as  of  being,  and  points  to 
something  above  us.  There  is  mystery  everywhere, 
even  in  the  lowest  range  of  existence.  We  find  it  in 
the  earth  we  tread  upon,  in  the  heaving  sea,  in  the 
air  we  breathe.  There  is  mystery  as  well  in  the 
grain  of  sand  that  lies  on  our  palm,  as  in  the  shining 
orb  that  wheels  through  space.  It  sits  with  us  at  our 
tables  ; it  lies  down  with  us  at  night ; it  travels  with 
us  through  our  dreams ; we  meet  it  in  the  minutest 
insect  that  basks  in  the  summer  sunlight.  Each  one  of 
us  is  a breathing,  walking,  thinking,  working  mystery. 
So  far  as  the  circle  of  mystery  is  concerned,  the  proudest 
achievements  both  of  science  and  philosophy  have  only 
served  to  broaden  it.  If  it  be  so  with  the  finite,  how 
can  it  be  otherwise  with  the  infinite  ? If  it  be  so 
with  the  human,  how  much  more  may  we  look  for  it 
in  the  divine  ! A book  that  should  profess  to  be  a 


11 


divine  revelation,  and  yet  to  embrace  no  mystery, 
would  bear  upon  its  brazen  brow  the  stamp  of  false- 
hood. When  our  common  sense  accepts  the  unex- 
plainable, the  unfathomable,  in  a thousand  other 
directions,  why  should  we  so  “feed  on  ashes”  as 
proudly  to  reject  it  in  the  domain  of  theology  ? 

There  are  two  errors  into  which  even  men  of  phil- 
osophic thought  have  fallen,  as  they  have  grappled 
with  this  subject.  They  have  failed,  in  the  first  place, 
to  discriminate  duly  between  facts  and  modes.  This 
distinction  pertains  everywhere  to  nature,  and  it  is 
readily  acknowledged  there.  What  takes  place  may 
be  patent ; as  that  matter  attracts  matter,  that  the 
electric  current  flows  along  the  wires,  that  combustion 
occurs — but  how  we  know  not.  When  Mr.  Tyndal 
convinces  us  that  heat  is  but  a mode  of  motion,  the 
modal  problem,  after  all,  has  only  receded.  That  a 
volition  moves  a congeries  of  bone  and  muscle  and 
flesh  and  nerve  we  doubt  not,  but  the  intimate  na- 
ture of  the  process  no  philosophy  can  show  us.  Sir 
William  Hamilton  gives  us  the  four  ingenious  theo- 
ries of  it,  only  to  conclude  that  we  know  nothing 
about  it.  What  we  admit  so  promptly  in  the  lower 
sphere,  why  should  we  reject  or  ignore  in  the  higher? 
Why  should  we  hesitate,  as  many  do — deceived  by  a 
perverse  intellectual  habitude — to  receive  the  great 
facts  of  Eevelation,  because  the  modes  are  hidden 
from  us  ? What  profitless  feeding  on  ashes  is  it ! 


12 


The  second  error,  akin  to  this, — little  more  than 
this,  indeed,  in  another  form, — ris  a failure  to  distin- 
guish, as  we  may  express  it,  between  apprehending  and 
comprehending.  A grand  distinction  is  this,  one  that 
disposes  effectually  of  that  doctrine  of  nescience, 
under  the  baleful  shadow  of  which  some  have  come 
to  affirm  that  all  knowledge  of  God  is  impossible  to 
us.  We  cannot  indeed  comprehend  him — so  the  Scrip- 
tures affirm  : “ Who  by  searching  can  find  out  God  ?” 
But  we  can  apprehend  him.  We  can  know  the  fact  of 
his  existence,  though  we  cannot  understand  it.  We 
can  believe  in  his  attributes — his  omnipresence,  for 
example,  and  stand  in  awe  before  it — while  we  say 
with  the  Psalmist,  “ Such  knowledge  is  too  wonderful 
for  me,  I cannot  attain  unto  it.”  Nay,  we  discriminate 
thus  in  all  the  finite.  Strictly  speaking,  we  compre- 
hend nothing.  A blade  of  grass  is  as  really  an  insol- 
uble mystery  to  us  as  aught  that  pertains  to  the 
divine  infinitude.  Why  then  should  a confusion  of 
thought  which  we  tolerate  nowhere  else,  deceive  and 
mislead  us  in  relation  to  the  Bible  and  Christianity  ? 
Yet  simple  as  the  matter  seems,  when  fairly  stated — 
level  to  the  plainest  understanding — it  has  become  “ a 
lie  in  the  right  hand”  of  some  of  the  keenest  thinkers 
of  our  age. 

I pass  to  name,  as  a third  source  of  infidelity,  a 
false  independence . There  is,  indeed,  a true  indepen- 
dence— not  absolute,  for  of  that  the  finite  universe 


13 


knows  nothing — but  qualified  and  limited.  It  is  the 
opposite  of  a blind  credulity  and  a cringing  subser- 
viency ; especially,  of  a servile  regard,  as  of  the 
weathercock,  for  the  fickle  breath  of  popular  applause. 
It  pertains  to  all  proper  individuality.  But  it  is  of  a 
counterfeit  I speak,  manifesting  itself  in  various  ways, 
and  particularly,  as  I am  now  concerned  to  say,  in 
relation  to  Christianity. 

It  takes  the  form,  in  the  first  place,  of  an  undue 
independence  of  others.  It  is  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence— to  be  everywhere  regarded,  however  liable  to 
misuse — that  we  build,  to  some  extent,  “on  other 
ihen’s  foundations.”  Human  nature  exists  succession- 
ally  ; and  each  generation,  while  it  learns  from  the 
preceding,  has,  or  should  have,  a lesson  for  the  follow- 
ing. For  the  communication  of  that  lesson,  even  in 
dogmatic  forms,  the  Creator  has  made,  in  the  family 
economy,  specific  provision.  Human  nature  exists, 
there  and  elsewhere,  socially  and  communally.  We 
are  not  all,  as  an  old  writer  phrases  it,  “ empty  pitch- 
ers attempting  to  fill  each  other.”  We  have  all  some- 
thing for  each  other,  and  something  which  we  are 
bound  to  impart.  The  accumulated  treasures  of 
knowledge  and  virtue  in  the  world  are  the  aggregate 
of  multitudinous  contributions.  For  one  to  take  the 
position  that  he  will  accept  nothing  on  trust ; that  in 
every  matter,  theoretic  or  practical,  he  will  begin  at 
the  beginning,  and  master  everything  for  himself, 


14 


would  be  obviously  the  height  of  absurdity.  While 
it  would  sadly  limit  and  cramp  some  of  the  most 
blessed  of  the  social  forces,  it  would  as  clearly  belittle 
all  good  knowledge  itself.  And  what  is  the  height  of 
folly  in  earthly  relations,  is  no  nearer  to  wisdom  in 
the  heavenly.  As  well  cast  away  what  linguists,  and 
geographers,  and  painstaking  historians,  and  indefati- 
gable scientists  have  done  for  us,  as  count  worthless 
the  researches  and  conclusions  of  saintly  and  laborious 
expositors  and  theologians.  True,  we  are  exhorted 
“to  prove  all  things.”  We  are,  indeed,  in  a sense,  to 
think  for  ourselves.  We  are  to  hold  fast,  as  worthy 
descendants  of  the  pilgrims,  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment ; and  as  ability  and  opportunity  serve,  we  are 
to  scrutinize  the  grounds  of  the  faith  which  has  been 
handed  down  to  us.  There  may  be,  and  there  doubt- 
less are,  unworthy  failures  in  this  regard.  But  as 
human  nature  is,  and  as  the  times  are,  our  danger  lies 
in  quite  a different  direction.  There  are  displays  of 
a proud  and  arrogant  self-sufficiency,  a lofty  scorn  of 
all  human  wisdom,  present  or  past,  which,  if  it  were 
not  so  ridiculous,  might  make  “ e’en  angels  weep.” 

Exhibitions  of  this  sort  are  sometimes  made  even 
by  the  undergraduate.  You  recall  one  perhaps, 
brought  up  on  the  “ sincere  milk”  of  Puritan  teaching, 
furnished  and  fortified  in  his  earlier  years  wTith  creeds 
and  catechisms,  and  duly  reverent  then  toward  all  home 
inculcations  and  sanctuary  teachings.  But  the  mar- 


15 


vellous  intellectual  expansion  of  college  life  has 
proved  too  mighty  even  for  those  potent  home  asso- 
ciations of  which  we  have  spoken.  It  has  burst  the 
bands  of  tradition,  and  he  stands  erect  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  a disenthralled  self-hood.  He  is  an 
independent  thinker  now.  He  has  come  to  doubt 
the  truth  of  the  old  Bible,  and  to  question,  if  not  to 
scout,  the  claims  of  Christianity.  What  matters  it  to 
him  that  parents  and  friends  not  merely,  but  a line  of 
intellectual  worthies — such  as  Newton,  and  Bacon, 
and  Milton,  and  Davy,  and  Edwards,  and  Chalmers — 
a line  running  through  the  ages  as  a trail  of  glory — 
have  received  with  unfaltering  faith  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  ? He  has  a keener  analysis,  a more  compact 
logic,  an  ampler  induction,  a broader  sweep  of 
thought.  You  saw  him,  perhaps,  as,  wrapping  the 
mantle  of  his  new-born  scepticism  about  him,  he 
made  his  appearance  at  the  old  homestead.  What  a 
sensation  was  there,  as  he  flourished  before  the  aston- 
ished household  the  lore  he  had  gathered — indepen- 
dent thinker  though  he  claimed  to  be — from  the  shal- 
low' pages  of  men  whose  rhetorical  brilliancy  had 
passed  with  him  for  profoundness.  He  had  learned 
from  Renan  with  what  myths  the  Gospels  wTere  laden. 
He  had  been  taught  by  Colenso  the  falsity  of  the 
Bible  chronology.  He  had  accepted,  as  a finality, 
Tyndal’s  prayer-gauge.  He  had  been  shown  by  Dar- 
win the  initial  honors  of  his  genealogical  record.  He 


16 


had  found  the  secret  of  all  life  in  Huxley’s  proto- 
plasm, and  had  learned  to  bow  in  rapt  devotion  before 
Arnold’s  drift-idol.  As  he  propounded  his  “ views”  to 
venerable  aunts  and  more  venerable  grandmothers — 
with  gratified  self-consciousness,  evidently — they  were 
in  the  plight  of  the  listeners  to  Goldsmith’s  school- 
master : 

“ And  still  they  gazed,  and  still  the  wonder  grew 
That  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew.” 

But  in  their  admiration  of  his  precocious  parts,  what 
a tino-e  of  sadness  was  there  ! How  much  rather 

O 

would  those  godly — aye,  and  those  right  judging 
souls — have  seen  him  hearkening  with  meek  docility 
to  all  good  human  teaching — not  despising  even  the 
hallowed  traditions — and  receiving,  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  the  kingdom  of  God  “as  a little  child.” 

There  is  a second  form  of  false  independence,  more 
subtle  and  harmful,  perhaps,  than  the  first.  It  is  an 
independence,  as  I may  term  it,  of  our  own  moral 
nature.  It  has  been  stoutly  advocated,  within  a few 
years  past,  by  some  from  whom  better  things  might 
have  been  expected.  They  have  insisted  on  a sort 
of  theological  indifferentism.  In  order  to  estimate 
aright  moral  and  religious  truth,  we  must  approach 
it,  they  say,  in  a state  of  perfect  neutrality.  To  be 
competent  and  safe  judges  of  Christianity,  in  par- 
ticular, we  must  have,  at  the  outset,  no  leaning  either 
against  it  or  for  it.  Our  preference  must  be,  not  for 


17 


the  truth,  but  for  truth  abstractly  considered.  Chris- 
tian ministers,  therefore,  and  professors  of  theology — 
nay,  by  consequence,  all  church  members — are  in 
the  nature  of  things  unfitted  to  weigh  the  Christian 
evidences.  They  must  be  ruled  out  of  the  jury-box, 
and  are  to  be  little  heeded  as  advocates  of  the  Gospel. 

There  is  in  all  this,  a little  reflection  will  show 
us,  a strange  confusion  of  thought — a mistaking, 
as  the  metaphysicians  would  say,  of  the  subjective 
for  the  objective.  As  to  subjective  truth,  or  “ truth 
in  the  inward  parts,”  there  should  be  but  one 
mood.  Truth  in  feeling,  in  purpose,  in  speech,  in  the 
whole  life,  should  be  steadfastly  maintained  by  us, 
and  every  tendency  to  the  contrary  should  be  un- 
sparingly condemned.  In  respect  to  the  indispensa- 
bleness and  importance  of  personal  truthfulness,  as 
we  may  term  it,  both  in  ourselves  and  others,  there 
can  be  no  exaggeration.  Of  the  simple  love  of  truth 
in  this  view — of  truth  for  its  own  sake — we  admit, 
without  hesitation,  all  that  has  been  affirmed.  But 
as  to  truth  objectively  considered,  or  as  offered  to  us 
for  acceptance  or  rejection,  the  case  is  essentially 
different.  There  are,  indeed,  spheres  and  ranges  of 
thought  in  which  a pure  indifferentism  is  quite  allow- 
able. As  it  regards  the  question,  for  example,  wheth- 
er the  three  angles-of  a triangle  are  equal  to  two 
right  angles,  or  whether  the  emission  theory  or  the 
wave  theory  of  light  is  the  true  one,  we  may  have 


18 


no  prepossession.  So  in  regard  to  purely  scientific 
questions  generally.  But  there  are  different  relations 
in  which  we  may  have — nay,  we  ought  to  have — a 
bias  for  certain  objective  realities  or  truths,  and  a 
bias  against  others.  God  has  incorporated  with  our 
very  being  certain  prepossessions : we  must  be  more 
or  less  than  human — nay,  we  must  be  fiend-like — 
utterly  to  disregard  them. 

Let  some  one  affirm,  for  instance,  that  a man  we 
have  known  and  esteemed  for  long  years  is  a thor- 
ough-paced scoundrel.  Is  there  any  law,  either  of 
science  or  of  ethics,  that  requires  us  to  regard  the 
assertion  with  perfect  nonchalance  ? Must  we  be  just 
as  well  pleased  with  such  an  objective  reality  as  with 
the  opposite?  Must  I be  just  as  willing  to  have 
George  Washington  proved  a knave  as  a patriot — 
John  Howard  a selfish  trickster  as  a philanthropist  ? 
What  becomes  of  the  charity  that  “ tliinketh  no  evil,” 
that  “ hopeth  all  things,”  and  “ believeth  all  things  ” ? 
Why,  even  cold,  passionless  lawT  rejects  a perfect  and 
universal  indifferentism.  It  .has  a prepossession  for 
our  common  humanity.  It  leans  toward  objective 
innocence.  The  man  with  a hundred  counts  against 
him  it  presumes  to  be  blameless,  until  he  is  proved 
beyond  a reasonable  doubt  to  be  guilty.  All  this 
because  the  Creator  has  put  within  us,  as  constitu- 
tional endowments,  kindness  and  sympathy,  and  a 
sense  of  justice;  and  because  his  word  has  sanctioned 


19 


and  enforced  them.  What  we  affirm  now  on  a lower 
plane  is  still  more  evident  on  a higher;  and  the 
higher  we  go  the  more  absurd  seems  the  opposite 
view.  Are  we  bound  to  approach  objective  righteous- 
ness, whatever  glorious  form  it  may  take,  with  no 
bias  in  its  favor — no  leaning  of  heart  or  conscience 
toward  it  ? Must  we,  so  far  as  feeling  is  concerned, 
be  just  as  ready  to  accept  unrighteousness?  Must  we 
look  with  equal  eye,  so  far  as  all  affectional  or  moral 
prepossession  is  concerned,  on  a demon  and  an  angel? 
That  were  to  eliminate  from  our  souls  their  most  god- 
like qualities.  That  were  to  deny  the  grandest  part 
of  our  being — that  which  allies  us  to  the  Infinite,  and 
makes  us  capable  of  spiritual  and  immortal  blessedness. 
That  were  like  requiring  the  man,  who  with  undim- 
med optics  walks  abroad  at  noonday,  to  hold  himself 
perfectly  undecided  on  the  question  whether  the  sun, 
just  then,  has  a place  in  the  heavens — to  have  no 
leaning,  one  way  or  another,  till  a demonstration  has 
been  wrought  out  by  the  Professor  of  Astronomy. 
Not  less  absurd  is  that  dogma  of  moral  indifferentism 
so  stoutly  contended  for  in  certain  quarters.  It  is  an 
attempt  to  quench  the  light  which  God  has  kindled 
within  us,  to  close  that  eye  of  the  soul  formed  by 
the  Creator  for  the  direct  beholding  of  moral  and 
spiritual  truth.  There  are,  indeed,  minor  questions 
of  ethics,  and  even  of  theology,  in  respect  to  which 
there  may  properly  be  little,  if  any,  pre-inclination. 


20 


They  may  be  referred  mainly  to  the  sphere  of  dry, 
nnimpassioned  logic.  But  not  so  with  higher  ques- 
tions, especially  with  the  great  question  of  theism, 
and  the  equally  important  question  of  Christianity. 
On  these  our  better  nature  has  a voice.  Keason,  in 
its  diviner  sense,  bears  testimony,  and  conscience  is 
to  be  heeded.  The  great  moral  intuitions  are  to  be 
regarded — as  valid  and  imperative  as  those  of  the 
purely  intellectual  sphere.  Neutrality  here,  espe- 
cially in  relation  to  that  ultimate  and  supreme  em- 
bodiment of  moral  and  spiritual  truth,  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  is  utterly  impossible.  “He  that  is  not  for 
me,”  says  our  Lord,  “ is  against  me ; and  he  that 
gathereth  not  with  me  scattereth  abroad.” 

I j>ass  to  mention,  as  another  source  of  infidelity, 
the  influence  of  much  of  our  periodical  and  popidar 
literature.  I say  much — not  all ; and,  I am  happy  to 
believe,  not  of  the  greater  part.  For  the  comparative 
purity  of  the  American  press,  whether  in  its  fugitive 
or  permanent  issues,  we  may  wTell  be  thankful.  It 
seldom  shocks  us  with  the  grosser  forms  of  scepticism — 
with  the  utter  rejection  of  the  Bible,  or  with  bold 
atheism.  And  it  gives  us  not  a little  pure  gold. 
There  are  men  in  editorial  chairs — chairs  of  secular 
journalism  even — never  oblivious  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  interests  of  their  readers,  careful  to  allow 
in  their  columns 

“Not  one  immoral,  one  corrupted  thought, 

One  line  which,  dying,  they  would  wish  to  blot.” 


21 


But  all,  alas,  are  not  such  ; and  where  there  is  nothing  of 
the  more  revolting  sort,  there  is  often  a subtle  tincture 
of  scepticism, — or,  at  least,  a gracious  treatment  of  it, — 
well  suited  to  mislead  unwary  and  ill-fortified  minds. 
This  is  of  the  greater  moment,  from  the  fact  that  our 
periodical  literature  has  come  to  be  so  largely  the  in- 
tellectual nutriment  of  our  people — the  daily,  weekly, 
monthly,  semi-monthly,  and  quarterly  issues  falling 
upon  the  whole  land  “like  leaves  in  Vallambrosa,” 
and  doing  more  than  almost  any  other  instrumentality 
to  mould  the  character  of  the  nation.  Not  to  speak 
of  periodicals  like  the  Westminster  Review,  and 
its  few  imitators  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  sur- 
passing it  in  malignity,  but  with  a smaller  stock  of 
brains, — publications  the  less  to  be  dreaded  for  the 
clear  manifestation  of  their  all-controlling  animus, — 
there  are  other  magazines,  not  professedly  in  the  in- 
terest of  infidelity,  which  pain  you,  now  and  then,  with 
articles  of  most  injurious  influence.  They  may  go 
forth  under  the  name  of  “ Popular  Science  ; ” but 
they  tend,  so  far  as  faith  in  the  Bible  is  concerned,  to 
popular  demoralization;  and  how  often,  in  the  daily 
and  weekly  papers,  in  sly  and  specious  editorials,  or 
in  bolder  communications,  do  you  meet  with  state- 
ments, or  inferences,  or  vague  hints,  or  positive  af- 
firmations, adverse,  if  not  to  theism,  at  least  to  Chris- 
tianity. Revelation  is  really  but  covertly  ignored, 
and  reason  is  exalted  as  the  sole  arbiter.  An  excel- 


22 


lent  book  is  the  old  Bible,  but  there  are  errors  in  it ; 
the  idea  of  its  plenary  inspiration  is  held,  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  only  by  the  narrowest  minds.  You  have  a car- 
icature, it  may  be,  of  some  old  Puritan — an  extract, 
perhaps,  fraught  with  mediaeval  terrors,  from  Jonathan 
Edwards.  The  thunder-peal  and  the  lightning-flash 
of  his  pages  are  reproduced ; but  not  the  day-star  or 
the  day-dawn,  the  fragrance  of  the  66  rose  of  Sharon  ” 
or  the  beauty  of  the  “ rainbow  round  about  the  throne.” 
There  is  a sneer  here  and  there  at  the  old  theology, 
and  an  intimation  that,  in  the  light  of  this  nineteenth 
century,  many  of  the  stern  old  faiths,  sour  and  crabbed 
to  the  modern  taste,  are  fast  becoming  obsolete. 
What  hits  at  bigotry  have  we ; what  praise  of  liberal- 
ism ; what  a magnifying  of  the  life,  as  all  in  all ; and 
what  disparagement  of  all  doctrine,  as  rubbish,  fit  only 
for  the  66  Paradise  of  fools.”  As  books  are  reviewed, 
what  faint  and  qualified  praise,  at  the  best,  is  accorded 
to  those  of  an  orthodox  stamp,  and  in  what  terms  of 
unbounded  admiration  are  the  men  of  lax  faith,  of 
bold  speculation, — the  66  advanced  thinkers,”  so  call- 
ed,— commended  to  the  unwary.  He  has  read  with 
little  discrimination  who  has  not  met  with  numerous 
illustrations  of  these  remarks ; and  when,  to  all  this, 
we  add  the  adroit  infusions  of  sceptical  thought  into 
novels,  and  romances,  and  essays,  and  volumes  of 
poetry — often  into  such  as  have  a special  fascination 
for  the  young — it  is  no  marvel  that  we  have  occa- 


23 


sion  to  say  of  many  an  unsuspecting  reader,  feeding 
upon  such  ashes,  66  a deceived  heart  hath  turned 
him  aside,  that  he  cannot  deliver  his  soul,  nor  say, 
Is  there  not  a lie  in  my  right  hand  ? ” 

As  another  and  a prolific  source  of  infidelity,  I 
name  ignorance  of  the  Bible.  No  other  book  of  im- 
portance suffers,  in  this  respect,  like  the  word  of  God. 
Among  the  various  evidences  of  this,  are  the  inaccu- 
rate quotations  so  often  made.  It  is  not  strange,  per- 
haps, looking  at  the  whole  history  concerned,  that  a 
man  like  Gladstone  should  refer  to  the  prophet  Daniel 
as  in  “ the  burning  fiery  furnace.”  But  when  writers 
or  speakers  of  credit  give  us  such  sayings  *as  “ God 
tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,”  or  “To  err  is 
human,  to  forgive  divine,”  as  veritable  quotations 
from  the  Scriptures,  we  cannot  help  thinking  that 
while  a greater  familiarity  both  with  the  ancient  and 
modern  classics  would  be  desirable,  still  more  desira- 
ble would  be  a better  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  An 
eminent  American  scientist,  not  over  favorable,  it  is 
understood,  to  the  evangelical  faith,  speaks,  in  a vol- 
ume recently  published,  of  the  “outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  of  God”  as  “ an  expression  which  would  be 
blasphemous  if  it  were  not  the  result  of  ignorance.” 
He  seems  not  to  be  aware  that  this  figurative  form  of 
speech  is  one  of  the  most  common  in  the  Scriptures. 
Yet  these  minor  mistakes  are  but  straws,  indicative 
of  greater  deficiencies.  There  are  not  a few  of  those 


24 


who  berate  and  reject  the  Bible,  who  know  little  more 
of  its  contents — nay,  in  some  cases  less — than  of  the 
Koran  or  the  Shasters. 

The  advocates  of  Christianity  are  often  charged 
with  ignorance  of  the  various  fields  of  scientific  re- 
search. And  the  charge,  it  must  be  admitted,  is,  in 
many  cases,  well  founded.  An  acquaintance  with 
that 

“ Elder  scripture,  writ  by  God’s  own  hand,” 

is  every  way  profitable.  It  would  in  no  wise  hinder, 
but  greatly  help  the  wise  and  effective  defence  of 
the  sacred  volume.  For  there  is  no  antagonism  be- 
tween nature  and  the  Bible.  They  have  one  author, 
one  great  end ; and,  to  the  reverent  ear,  there  is  a 
glorious  harmony  between  them.  The  more  nature 
is  studied,  if  it  be  with  a true  docility,  the  more 
clearly  will  this  appear.  But  to  that  end  the  Bible 
should  be  studied  also,  and  that  not  in  the  manner  of 
a mere  sciolist.  It  is  true  here,  in  a sense,  that 

“A  little  learning  is  a dangerous  thing.” 

It  may,  to  a perverse  mind,  be  a fruitful  source  of 
infidelity.  The  Bible,  no  less  than  nature,  requires 
profound  study.  It  has  its  chemistry,  its  geology,  its 
strata,  its  demiurgic  periods.  It  is  a connected  whole. 
As  a tree  of  life,  it  has  a divine  botany,  giving  us  its 
root  in  the  garden  of  Eden ; its  trunk  expanding  and 
rising  heavenward  through  the  ages ; its  branches 
outspreading  at  the  touch  of  the  Son  of  God ; its 


25 


leaves  for  the  healing  of  the  nations ; and  its  “ twelve 
manner  of  fruits”  for  the  dwellers  in  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem. As  it  is  faithfully  studied,  what  seem  at  first 
defects,  will  be  found  to  be  excellences.  Even  the 
silences  of  the  Scripture  are  among  its  greatest  felici- 
ties. And  as  in  mineralogical  and  geological  investi- 
gations, what  appeared  to  the  tyro  like  disorder  and 
confusion,  a mere  chaotic  jumble,  shall  pass,  to  the 
eye  of  the  honest  and  diligent  student,  into  perfect 
order  and  exquisite  beauty.  Not  only  is  the  Bible  its 
own  best  interpreter,  it  is  its  own  best  defence.  As 
ignorance  of  it  leads  naturally  to  infidelity,  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  it  is  the  most  potent  means 
of  evoking  at  once  the  assent  of  the  intellect  and  the 
faith  of  the  heart.  So  our  missionaries  among  hea- 
then nations  have  told  us,  and  such  is  the  testimony 
of  pastors  and  Bible-readers,  as  they  have  labored  in 
our  own  land.  Interesting  and  impressive  things  the 
learned  astronomer  may  tell  us  of  the  orb  of  day ; 
but  it  is  only  as  you  gaze  directly  upon  it,  as  it  lifts 
its  disc  above  the  eastern  hills,  as  it  passes  to  its 
meridian  elevation,  as  it  moves  adown  the  western 
sky,  sending  its  rays  aslant  over  hill  and  valley  and 
plain  and  garden  and  grove,  that  you  say  with  the 
deepest  emotion,  “ Truly  the  light  is  sweet,  and  a 
pleasant  thing  it  is  for  the  eyes  to  behold  the  sun.” 
So  of  that  sun  of  the  moral  world  which  the  purblind 
infidel  madly  discards.  If  we  could  only  insure  the 


26 


daily  reading  of  the  Bible  in  all  the  families  of  our 
land,  I should  little  deplore  the  absence  of  all  pon- 
derous apologies.  I should  be  sure  that  scepticism 
would  go  to  its  own  place,  and  the  nation  be  saved. 
With  this  conviction,  I take  my  stand,  on  this  cen- 
tennial year,  at  the  threshold  of  the  Common  School, 
and,  remembering  all  that  the  Bible  has  done  for  us 
since  our  fathers  sought  here  “a  faith’s  pure  shrine,” 
I say  to  those  who  with  whatever  vain  quibbles  would 
banish  it  from  the  place  of  teaching, — 

“Procul,  O procul  este,  profani!” 

I pass  to  speak  of  another  source  of  scepticism, 
a misapprehension  of  the  evangelical  faith . A point 
this  naturally  and  closely  connected  with  that  last 
made.  Men  of  straw  are  never  particularly  seemly  ; 
and  this  is  especially  true  in  the  sphere  of  religion. 
I do  not  marvel  that  one  becomes  an  infidel  when 
the  fair  form  of  Christianity  is  transmuted, — whether 
by  his  own  fault  or  that  of  others, — into  a scarecrow 
or  a hobgoblin.  I have  always  been  a little  less  se- 
vere in  my  judgment  of  the  French  infidels — Voltaire 
and  the  rest — for  the  sort  of  Christianity  against 
which  they  revolted.  Such  transformations  as  I refer 
to  have  the  leading  doctrines  of  our  faith  often  un- 
dergone ; and  the  result  has  been  a sad  one.  The 
genuine  coin  has  been  rejected  because  of  the  coun- 
terfeit. The  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  to  begin 
at  the  beginning,  has  been  apprehended  as  a purely 


27 


mechanical  affair,  the  sacred  writers  being  the  mere 
amanuenses  of  the  Holy  Spirit — the  almost  uncon- 
scious conduits  through  which  the  mind  and  will  of 
the  Most  High  were  uttered.  As  the  human  element 
has  been  thus  discarded  or  ignored — man  putting 
asunder  what  God  has  wisely  joined  together — the 
issue  has  often  been  an  unhappy  confusion  of  thought 
and  faltering  of  faith.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
has  been  understood  to  mean  not  only  that  there  is  a 
mysterious  threefoldness  in  the  Godhead,  but  that 
God  is  three  in  the  same  sense  in  which  He  is  one. 
Miracles  are  represented  as  annulling  the  laws  of 
nature,  instead  of  merely  using  them;  or  of  simply 
interposing  a superior  force,  and  being  thus,  on  a 
higher  plane,  the  proper  analogues  of  the  commonest 
human  acts.  Our  doctrine  of  total  depravity  is  un- 
derstood by  many  to  mean  that  every  man  is  by 
nature  as  bad  as  he  can  be — that  there  can  be  noth- 
ing in  any  sense  approvable  or  lovable  about  him ; 
when  it  simply  imports  that  he  is  totally  destitute  of 
loyalty  to  God ; that  he  is  a rebel  against  his  Maker, 
though,  like  other  rebels  against  rightful  authority, 
he  may  have  many  a pleasant  and  praiseworthy  qual- 
ity. Regeneration  is  apprehended  often  as  a physical 
or  constitutional  change — not  a mere  change  of  heart 
or  of  the  affections;  and  so,  the  balance  of  truth 
being  disturbed,  doubts  and  cavils  are  begotten.  The 
great  doctrine  of  the  atonement  is  misunderstood, — 


28 


as  if  it  taught  that  God  gave  his  Son  that  he  might 
love  the  world,  and  not  as  we  have  it  in  the  Gospel, 
that  he  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  Son. 
The  death  of  Christ  is  conceived  of  as  a literal  pun- 
ishment— not,  as  in  the  most  orthodox  view,  a pen- 
alty only  in  a secondary,  vicarious  sense,  and  that 
voluntarily  endured  by  one  who  had  a right  to  lay 
down  his  life.  Predestination  is  often  caricatured, 
as  not  including  the  merely  permissive  sense,  and  so 
as  not  leaving  the  human  will,  according  to  Edwards’ 
resistless  demonstration,  as  free  as  it  possibly  can  be. 
Justification  by  faith  is  regarded  as  superseding  or 
disparaging  a holy  life — not  as  being  at  once  its  indis- 
pensable basis  and  its  most  potent  motive.  Time 
would  fail  us  to  note  all  the  distortions  of  Christian 
doctrine  whereby  the  Gospel  is  discredited,  or  to  fol- 
low out  all  the  lines  of  sceptical  reasoning  which  they 
originate.  They  are  due  sometimes  to  the  incom- 
petency or  wrongheadedness  of  the  advocates  of 
Christianity.  They  fail  to  present  it  in  its  own  fair, 
symmetrical,  glorious  proportions.  But  they  come, 
in  part,  of  other  causes;  of  that  ignorance  of  the 
Bible  which  has  been  already  dwelt  on,  of  a lack  of 
faithful  investigation,  and  of  a fair  and  candid  con- 
sideration of  what  the  defenders  of  the  truth  have 
had  to  offer.  How  many  revilers  of  Calvin  are  there, 
who  have  never  read  a page  either  of  his  Institutes 
or  his  Commentaries.  How  many  a determined  op- 


29 


ponent  of  “ orthodoxy,”  so  called,  do  you  meet,  who 
could  scarce  give  you  its  true  outline,  who  has  not 
indeed  honestly  sought  for  it,  but,  putting  a miser- 
able changeling  in  its  place,  and  identifying  that  with 
Christianity,  has  made  utter  shipwreck  of  the  faith. 
The  pertinacity  with  which  men  often  cling  to  their 
misapprehensions  is  a sad  indication  that  a deceived 
heart  has  turned  them  aside,  and  that  they  delight  in 
the  ashes  on  which  they  feed. 

I pass  naturally  here  to  the  last  source  of  infidelity 
on  which  I propose  to  dwell,  a lack  of  sympathy 
with  the  Gospel.  This  is  not  only  the  complement  of 
the  series,  but  is  intimately  connected  with  the  whole. 
Other  springs  of  error  lie  far  back  in  the  years,  and 
deep  down  in  the  heart ; this  has  not  only  the  pre- 
cedence chronologically,  but  is  profounder  than  all  the 
rest.  Nay,  the  others  have  largely,  as  we  have  inti- 
mated, their  root  and  nutriment  in  it.  They  work 
subtly,  indeed  ; but  this  more  subtly,  because  more 
quietly,  constantly,  pervasively.  It  is  as  a still  but 
chilly  night-air,  covering  with  a hoar-frost  whatever 
abides  in  it.  This  lack  of  sympathy,  moreover,  is 
not  a purely  negative  affair.  It  has  its  t positive 
side  ; it  implies  a real  and  deep-seated  dislike,  and 
that  of  a most  indomitable  and  persistent  character. 
You  may  seem  to  overcome  it ; but,  divine  grace 
apart,  like  nature  in  the  Horatian  saying,  Though 
thrust  out  with  a fork,  it  will  come  back  again. 


30 


And  like  the  Circean  spell,  it  is 

“ Of  power  to  cheat  the  eye  with  blear  illusion, 

And  give  it  false  presentments.” 

The  point  we  now  make  has,  I know — as  an  open 
utterance,  at  least — been  strongly  objected  to.  In 
a public  discussion  on  the  best  means  of  arresting 
infidel  tendencies,  I have  heard  from  the  lips  of  an 
able  and  excellent  divine  a protest  against  any  re- 
sort, as  he  expressed  himself,  to  the  odium  theologi- 
cum.  In  a certain  relation  of  that  term,  I should 
heartily  coincide  with  him ; but,  as  to  the  grosser 
forms  of  infidelity,  there  is  a divine  method,  which, 
it  is  believed,  we  may  safely  follow.  It  is  u the 
fool,”  God  affirms — the  fool  in  a moral  sense — who 
“ hath  said  in  his  heart  there  is  no  God.”  And  shall 
we  hesitate  to  make  a similar  affirmation  ? It  was 
because  men  “ liked  not  to  retain  God  in  their  knowl- 
edge,” the  Scripture  declares,  that  he  “gave  them 
over  to  a reprobate  mind,”  even  to  all  vile  idola- 
tries. And  as  to  the  Bible,  we  have  ample  warrant 
for  saying,  that  if  men  like  not  it,  it  is  because  the 
Bible  likes  not  them.  “ He  that  is  of  God,”  said  our 
Lord,  “ heareth  God’s  words  : ye  therefore  hear  them 
not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God.”  To  the  same  effect 
writes  the  apostle  Paul : “ The  God  of  this  world  hath 
blinded  the  minds  of  them  which  believe  not ;”  and 
“ God,  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  dark- 
ness, hath  shined  in  our  hearts”  — in  our  hearts , 


31 


observe — ■“  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.”  When 
Christianity  was  rejected  in  that  age, — and  the  fact 
is  just  the  same  at  the  present  day, — it  was  the 
heart,  primarily  and  mainly,  that  needed  to  be  rec- 
tified. 

Let  us  not  be  misunderstood  here.  Far  be  it  from 
us  to  affirm  that  the  men  of  sceptical  leanings  are 
all  of  immoral  character,  or  destitute  of  amiable 
susceptibilities  and  sympathies.  The  fact  is  the  very 
reverse  of  this — albeit  the  tendency  of  infidelity,  in 
itself  considered,  is  to  all  manner  of  deterioration. 
But,  immorality  apart,  there  is  a natural  contrariety 
between  the  unsanctified  heart  and  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  The  Gospel  strikes  a death-blow  at  human 
selfishness  in  all  its  manifold  forms — at  self-seeking, 
self-exaltation,  self-dependence,  self-will,  self-righteous- 
ness, self-salvation.  It  touches,  with  its  Ithuriel 
spear,  the  thin  disguises  of  the  soul,  and  a thousand 
unsuspected  evils  are  straightway  revealed.  When 
self-complacency  cries,  “ All  these  have  I kept 
from  my  youth  up,”  the  response  is,  “Sell  all  that 
thou  hast ;”  and  the  man  of  great  possessions  departs 
in  sorrowful  mood.  It  makes  no  compromises  ; it 
allows  no  reserves ; it  abases  all  human  pride.  To 
the  monarch  on  his  throne,  as  well  as  the  serf  in  his 
hut ; to  the  savan,  amid  all  the  splendor  of  his  intel- 
lectual triumphs,  as  well  as  the  illiterate  peasant ; to 
3 


all  alike,  it  cries  ever,  “ Except  ye  be  converted,  and 
become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.”  And  it  is,  in  many  a case,  be- 
cause the  old  perverse  heart — the  same  through  all 
the  ages — reluctates  at  such  self-renunciation  and  self- 
humiliation,  that  it  seeks,  at  length,  to  fortify  itself 
by  some  specious  form  of  infidelity. 

“But  is  there  no  such  thing,”  you  may  say,  “as 
honest  doubt?  We  have  heard  its  praises  spoken; 
and  do  you  repudiate  it  utterly?”  There  are,  without 
question,  doubters  with  a measure  of  honesty.  And  so 
far  as  that  element  really  prevails,  it  is  a token  of  good. 
It  is  like  the  spring  bud,  making  its  way  through 
snow  and  frost,  with  unmistakable  vitality  and  prom- 
ise of  fruitage.  It  is  the  leaning  of  the  plant  in  the 
dark  cellar  toward  the  faintest  ray  of  light.  And  it 
may  be  recognized  by  the  fact  that  such  is  ever  its 
leaning.  It  holds  not  fast  its  cavils  and  difficulties, 
of  whatever  sort,  but  rejoices  to  have  them  removed. 
In  an  inquiry  meeting  which  I held  one  Sabbath  eve- 
ning, when  a pastor,  I observed  a gentlemen  and  lady, 
of  intelligent  aspect,  whom  I found  to  be  husband  and 
wife,  \vaiting  apparently  to  be  conversed  with.  As 
I approached  them,  the  gentleman  rose  to  give  me 
passage  to  his  wife,  for  whose  sake  alone  he  had  tar- 
ried, on  an  invitation  given  after  the  discourse  of  the 
evening.  I gave  him  to  understand,  however,  that  I 
had  a word  for  him  also,  and,  in  the  kindest  manner 


33 


possible,  I sought  to  ascertain  the  state  of  his  mind. 
“ They  call  me,”  he  said,  in  answer  to  my  inquiries, 
“an  infidel”  “Ah,”  I replied,  “some  persons  are  so 
called  who  have  not  much  of  the  infidel  about  them, 
after  all  ” A brief  conversation  followed,  in  which  I 
said  to  him,  “ Do  you  think  you  really  desire  to  know 
the  truth?”  I shall  never  forget  the  apparent  sin- 
cerity with  which — impressed,  probably,  more  than  he 
was  aware,  by  the  services  of  the  evening  and  by 
his  wife’s  solicitude — he  answered,  “/  do.”  Encour- 
aged by  this  assurance,  I took  a long  walk  the  next 
day  to  his  dwelling,  to  leave  there  for  him  Nelson’s 
“Cause  and  Cure  of  Infidelity”  On  the  following 
Sabbath  evening  he  was  at  the  inquiry  meeting 
again ; and  he  gladdened  my  heart  by  telling  me 
that  the  book  I loaned  him  had  scattered  his  infidel- 
ity to  the  winds.  I had  the  joy  of  receiving  both 
him  and  his  wife  to  the  church  of  Christ.  He  uttered 
no  falsehood  when  he  said  he  desired  to  know  the 
truth ; and  this  was  the  outcome  *of  it.  Honest 
doubt — if  it  be  really  such — is  the  break  of  day  to 
the  benighted  soul.  It  is  the  mingled  solicitude  and 
hope  of  the  captive,  as  some  kind  hand  is  breaking 
link  after  link  of  the  chain  that  has  bound  him.  Let 
me  see  that  doubt  is  really  honest — that  the  old  re- 
pugnancies of  the  heart  are  passing  away — and  1 can 
as  little  question  the  issue  as  that  the  vernal  sunshine 
will  be  followed  by  the  luxuriance  of  summer.  For 


34 


“ if  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the 
doctrine.” 


Young  Gentlemen  of  the  Graduating  Class: 

You  will  bear  us  witness  that,  in  all  our  past  rela- 
tions to  you,  our  utterances  on  the  subject  of  religion 
have  been  in  no  sectarian  vein.  It  has  been  to  us 
a matter  of  little  consequence,  comparatively,  with 
which  of  the  various  divisions  of  the  sacramental 
host  your  lot  might  be  cast.  But  while  minor  things 
have  been  held  thus  in  abeyance,  we  have  magnified 
to  the  utmost  the  Word  of  God.  Among  all  our  text- 
books, so  far  as  moral  and  spiritual  subjects  are  con- 
cerned— subjects  of  chief  moment,  it  should  be  ever 
remembered,  in  the  training  of  a rational  and  im- 
mortal being — the  Bible  has  been  foremost.  We  have 
insisted  ever  on  its  supremacy  in  matters  both  of 
faith  and  practice.  And  our  chief  desire  has  been 
that  you  might  yield  your  hearts  and  minds  fully  to 
its  control ; that  each  one  of  you  might  be  a true 
Christian — which  is,  indeed,  “the  highest  style  of 
man.”  We  rejoice,  with  joy  unspeakable,  that  our 
hopes  and  efforts  in  this  regard  have  not  been  ut- 
terly in  vain.  While  some  of  you  have  found  here, 
as  we  trust,  “the  pearl  of  great  price,”  it  has  be- 
come more  and  more  precious  to  others,  we  doubt 
not,  under  the  quickening  influence  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  By  the  great  majority  of  you,  so  far  as  I 


know,  Christianity  is  accepted  as  the  only  hope 
either  of  the  individual  soul  or  of  a lost  world. 

It  was  from  no  special  fear  in  regard  to  you 
that  the  theme  of  the  present  occasion  was  selected. 
It  was  wTell,  we  thought — in  this  age  of  doubt 
rather  than  of  faith,  or  of  faith,  in  some  of  its 
sternest  conflicts  with  doubt — to  stir  up  your  minds, 
at  least,  by  way  of  remembrance.  We  recall  the 
admonition  of  Scripture,  "let  him  that  thinketh  he 
standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall.”  While  we  are 
thankful,  as.  you  may  well  be,  for  whatever  escapes 
have  been  vouchsafed  you  from  whatever  latent 
springs  of  error  have  lain  about  your  earlier  years, 
we  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  snares  and  pitfalls 
still  in  your  pathway ; and  that,  for  the  sake  both  of 
yourselves  and  of  others,  you  cannot  be  too  effect- 
ually guarded  against  them.  We  have  thought  it 
well,  therefore,  to  call  your  attention  to  the  peril- 
ous "seeds  of  things;”  to  the  little  germs  which 
require  an  almost  microscopic  scrutiny,  but  out  of 
which  may  grow  the  deadly  nightshade. 

Let  us  counsel  you,  then, — gathered  as  you  are 
for  your  last  Sabbath  service  here, — not  only  to 
beware,  in  all  your  future,  of  those  evil  associations 
by  which  your  own  faith  may  be  imperilled,  but 
to  be  sure  that  you  harm  npt  thus  the  souls  of 
others.  Along  those  delicate  cords  of  sympathy 
which  bind  your  hearts  still  to  your  fellow-youth, 


36 


and  through  those  other  channels  of  influence  which 
will  open  before  you,  as  the  years  steal  on,  have 
a care  that  no  perilous  current  of  scepticism  flows. 
Dim  not  even  by  a word  the  brightness  of  that 
hope  which  alone  can  purify  and  save  the  rising 
generation.  As  touching  the  claims  of  Christianity, 
let  not  mystery  disturb  you.  Bow  down  with  rever- 
ence, rather,  before  the  inscrutable  things  of  God,  re- 
joicing that  as  you  gaze  with  awe  into  the  unfathom- 
able depths  of  the  firmament  of  his  truth,  so  many 
blessed  lights  shine  clearly  and  brightly  upon  you. 
Nor  let  the  spirit  of  a false  independence  possess 
you — an  independence  that  scorns  not  only  all  the 
wisdom  both  of  the  past  and  the  present,  but  rejects 
even  those  primal  intuitions  and  instincts, --the  indis- 
pensable conditions  of  all  good  knowledge, — which 
God  himself  has  wrought  into  the  very  texture  of 
the  human  soul.  Be  on  your  guard  against  that  taint 
of  error  which  lurks  in  many  a brilliant  page  of  our 
various  literature,  especially  in  its  lighter  and  more 
transient  forms.  And  should  the  press  become  your 
chosen  instrument  of  influence,  see  to  it  that  through 
this  channel  no  utterance  go  forth  suited  to  weaken 
the  hold  of  men  upon  the  truth  of  God.  Be  not 
corruptors  of  your  fellow-men,  even  editorially.  That 
you  be  under  no  injurious  misapprehension,  and  that 
you  may  be  helpful  to  others,  study  carefully  and 
candidly  the  evangelical  faith.  Above  all,  be  con- 


stant  and  diligent  students  of  the  Bible.  Study  it 
with  all  docility, — not  putting  finite  \yisdom  above 
the  infinite,  but  seeking  meekly  to  be  taught  of  God. 
Study  it  in  its  relations  and  correlations — in  the 
whole,  as  well  as  the  parts.  Study  it  in  no  cavilling 
spirit.  Watch  not  for  apparent  roughnesses  of  the 
bark  upon  this  tree  of  life,  but  pass  to  its  heart,  and 
satisfy  the  soul’s  hunger,  and  stay  the  maladies 
thereof,  with  its  refreshing  and  healing  leaves.  To 
this  end,  invoke  that  divine  influence  which  shall 
take  from  the  soul  all  its  secret  aversions  to  the 
humbling  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and  beget  in  it 
a profound  sympathy  wTith  the  Word  of  Life.  So 
shall  all  mists  of  doubt  and  unbelief  pass  awray. 
So  shall  your  lives  be  peaceful  and  beneficent.  And 
when  you  are  summoned  at  last  to  follow  that  one 
of  your  number,  the  earnest,  trustful,  and  faithful 
Puffer,  who  was  early  and  suddenly  called  to  the 
rest  above,  but  who  left  in  your  hearts  a memory 
of  him  that  *will  never  die,  you  shall  lay  your  trem- 
bling hands  upon  the  dear  old  Bible,  and,  as  earth’s 
flickering  stars  fade  away,  the  Star  of  Bethlehem, 
yea,  the  very  Sun  of  Righteousness,  shall  irradiate 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death. 


